Up to Snuff 8/12/19 – Revenge of the Shounen

I think our writers are collectively nuts with their votes this week, but I suspect the results will be quite well-received given the buzz this week’s Kimetsu no Yaiba got on social media (and yes, it looked great). Two big shounen dominate the polls, in fact, and a couple of other shows on a downward trajectory for me personally are on the rise. That’s the beauty of a site with multiple voices, though – all of us have the chance to be heard.

“Ask the Writers” returns for the first time this season, and it’s a question I’ve often pondered over the years watching anime. An interesting batch of answers to be sure.

Weekly Staff Poll

Ask The Writers

If you could imagine any anime/manga character as your daughter and son (for Stilts-chama, grandson and granddaughter is fine if it’s easier to imagine) who would they be?

Takaii:I would want one of these three (in no particular order): Tohru from Fruits Basket, Latina from Uchi Musume, or Maki from Fire Force. Close runner up is sibling combo Nezuko and Tanjirou from Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Stilts: Any of the YoriMoi girls, who would probably make me feel embarrassed about my misspent youth, but so, so proud. Though hopefully I don’t have to be dead or estranged to take the role.

Stars: If I were going to adopt someone, it’d either be Shinji from NGE or Lucy from Elfen Lied. My reasoning here is that so many characters in anime could have lived good, fulfilling lives if the adults raising them weren’t so horrible. Spending time with kids is actually an incredible experience, and a small price to pay for the continued survival of the human race. (Editor’s note: D’aww)

Choya: My choice would be a character who has a view of the world that should be fostered and encouraged to help promote their creativity. Characters like Yotsuba from Yotsuba-to or Gon from Hunter x Hunter who see the positive and negative that the world gives them and uses what they have to be able to make sure they can excel. Yotsuba’s world is far less dangerous than Gon’s, but both characters have personalities that I’d be happy to help empower so that they would grow up to be thriving and successful problem-solvers on top of being encouraged to channel their creativity towards their future pursuits whether it be adventuring or conquering the world.

Pankeeki: Ringo from Casshern Sins, because even little robot girls deserve a chance at childhood happiness while giving you the warm parental fuzzies,

Miss Simplice: Ame and Yuki. Why? I don’t have any maternal instincts and I know I’d be more comfortable around wolf pups than human pups. Also, they become independent a couple of years earlier.

Zaiden: If I had a kid, I’d hope that they’d be able to make good friends, in addition to being kind, energetic and well-adjusted. In the sense they haven’t had a tragic background that has traumatised them. Most characters in anime and certainly not well-adjusted, which rules out a lot of candidates. Although she can be extremely demanding and fierce in temperament, I think Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) would fit the bill. Though being a goddess that can influence reality on a whim would be rather problematic. As for a son, Natsume Kyousuke (Little Busters) and Maes Hughes (Full Metal Alchemist) would both be awesome. In terms of my materialistic desires, it would be cool to have Souma (Shokugeki no Souma), because I’d be able to eat awesome food very often. If I just wanted cuteness, Yotsuba (Yotsuba) and Kanna (Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon) would work. Right, I’ve named 6 kids. Together with my future partner, that’s enough to field my own baseball team, mwahahaha.

Guardian Enzo: This is a very tough one for me, as I’ve thought a lot about it over the years. On the daughter side I’m inclined to take Mana from Gegege no Kitarou 2018, because she’s just such a wonderfully real and lovable girl and I know I could make her miserable with dad jokes. On the son side, that’s a tough call. I thought about Deku from BnHA, but even in the mundane world he’s still a kid with a hero instinct who looks for ways to sacrifice himself for others – he’d kill me with worrying. I think it’s a tie – Chagum from Seirei no Moribito because he’s probably my favorite child character in anime, and noble in the very best sense of the word – it’d be wonderful to watch him develop into a remarkable adult. And Maruo from Baby Steps, because he’s so decent and earnest and generally good, and with all the money he’s going to make as a tennis player he can take care of me and the Missus in our old age.

Note: Not wanting a traumatised child isn’t because I’m discriminating against traumatised children. Some of my favourite characters are ones who’ve had to go through significant trauma. I’d just like to think my parenting abilities would be good enough to prevent such an outcome.

Guardian Enzo, I am an avid reader of both RandomC and LostInAnime. I know your opinion regarding 3 of the top 4 shows this season in terms of popularity (Kimetsu no Yaiba, Dr. Stone, Fire Force, and Vinland Saga). Though I may disagree with you for dropping 3 of the 4, I respect your thoughts whenever you say them in your own website. But then you go here in this website with multiple writers and say that your co-writers are “collectively nuts with their votes” and your opinion that “shows on a downward trajectory for me personally are on the rise”. Are we going to hear this every week that you disagree with your co-writers? Can’t you accept that they view shows as good even if you view them as bad? I mean I know that it’s just once but I predict that you will keep on saying this in your Up to Snuff introductions unlike when you agreed with the results like say when Dororo and Mob Psycho 100 were on-top.

I just don’t want to hear every week that your co-writers are wrong whenever the results are not in your favor. It just sounds elitist. And I really implore you to stop dropping shows left and right. There is joy in the shows that you dropped and I just really want you to feel that satisfaction again. Reading your website has become depressing whenever you rant about the anime industry while when you read in Reddit, people just have fun and find a reason to be happy with what they watch. I know that you are a critic but I hope you find a reason to smile again whenever you think about the anime industry. More power to you and your co-writers! :)

I won’t disagree with your first paragraph, though there’s a chance that the “collectively nuts” statement was meant in a humorous way.

As for the second paragraph I would differ. I won’t implore any blogger to keep on writing about shows they no longer enjoy writing about. And there’s a certain quality to Enzo’s writing which I guess goes hand to hand with his more critical take on shows, personally I would not exchange that quality for a more “happy and agreeable” atmosphere that would please the majority of people.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m just immensely enjoying this trashy isekai show and I’m looking for people to share the hype with, for those cases there’s always another blogger or forum to go to. No need to convince reviewers to like the shows that we like, there are tons of them around, someone’s gotta be creating reviews that you would enjoy ^_^

Hmm, if we go with anime from this season, i’d say i would like Oosuki Mamako as a daughter. If she was just as doting and lovely as a kid in comparison to how she turned out as an adult, i would have no complaints.
As for overall shows, Lucy was the first one that came to mind.

I’d adopt one or two of the Misaka clones(At the time they were being killed). I think it’s easy to feel sorry for them given their situation, and really they could easily just live a normal life in the right home.

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